Humanitext Reader

Horace · Epistles §1.20.1-1.20.28

Warning to the Book and the Author's Identity

Passage 22 of 29 · Latin

Summary

Horace addresses his book, which is eager for publication, warning it of its eventual decay and neglect. He then instructs the book on how to describe its author—his humble origins, character, appearance, and age—to future readers.

§1.20.1Vertumnum Ianumque, liber, spectare videris, §1.20.2scilicet ut prostes Sosiorum pumice mundus.
You seem, my book, to be looking toward Vertumnum and Janus, doubtless that you may stand exposed for sale, polished by the pumice of the Sosii.
§1.20.3odisti clavis et grata sigilla pudico; §1.20.4paucis ostendi gemis et communia laudas, §1.20.5non ita nutritus, fuge quo descendere gestis.
You hate the keys and seals which are pleasing to the modest; you groan at being shown to few, and praise public exposure, not brought up thus. Fly whither you long to descend.
§1.20.6non erit emisso reditus tibi.
Once let out, there will be no return for you.
“quid miser egi? §1.20.7quid volui?” dices, ubi quis te laeserit, et scis §1.20.8in breve te cogi, cum plenus languet amator.
'What have I done, wretch that I am?' 'What did I want?' you will say, when someone hurts you, and you know that you are packed into a narrow space, when your sated lover languishes.
§1.20.9Quod si non odio peccantis desipit augur, §1.20.10carus eris Romae, donec te deserat aetas; §1.20.11contrectatus ubi manibus sordeseere volgi §1.20.12coeperis, aut tineas pasees taciturnus inertis §1.20.13aut fugies Uticam aut vinctus mitteris Ilerdam.
But if the prophet does not lose his senses through hatred of the offender, you will be dear to Rome until your youth leaves you; when, handled by the hands of the vulgar, you begin to grow dirty, you will either feed the sluggish moths in silence, or you will flee to Utica, or be sent bound to Ilerda.
§1.20.14ridebit monitor non exauditus, ut ille §1.20.15qui male parentem in rupes protrusit asellum §1.20.16iratus: quis enim invitum servare laboret?
Your unheeded adviser will laugh, like that man who in anger pushed his disobedient donkey over the cliffs: for who would toil to save one against his will?
§1.20.17hoc quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa docentem §1.20.18occupet extremis in vicis balba senectus.
This also awaits you, that stuttering old age should overtake you teaching boys their elements in the outskirts of the town.
§1.20.19Cum tibi sol tepidus pluris admoverit auris, §1.20.20me libertino natum patre et in tenui re §1.20.21maiores pinnas nido extendisse loqueris, §1.20.22ut quantum generi demas virtutibus addas; §1.20.23me primis urbis belli placuisse domique, §1.20.24corporis exigui, praecanum. solibus aptum, §1.20.25irasci celerem, tamen ut placabilis essem.
When the warm sun has brought you more listeners, you shall tell them that I, born of a freedman father and in slender circumstances, spread wings larger than my nest, so that what you take from my birth, you may add to my virtues; that I pleased the foremost men of the city, in war and in peace, of small stature, gray before my time, fond of the sun, quick to anger, yet so as to be easily appeased.
§1.20.26forte meum si quis te percontabitur aevum, §1.20.27me quater undenos sciat implevisse Decembris, §1.20.28collegam Lepidum quo duxit Lollius anno.
If by chance anyone should ask you my age, let him know that I completed forty-four Decembers, in the year when Lollius took Lepidus as his colleague.

Notes

  1. 1.20.2prostes Sosiorum pumice mundus — The verb prostes (present subjunctive of prosto, "to stand exposed for sale") carries a strong double meaning of a slave prostitute standing in the street. This is paired with pumice mundus ("polished with pumice"), which refers to the bookseller's finishing process of smoothing the edges of a papyrus scroll, while also playing on the physical grooming and depilation of a prostitute.
  2. 1.20.8in breve te cogi — The phrase in breve can mean "into a narrow space" or "tightly." The passive infinitive cogi (from cogo, "to pack" or "to compress") refers to the scroll being rolled up tightly and stuffed into a narrow book-box (scrinium) by a sated reader, mirroring a rejected prostitute being confined to a small room.
  3. 1.20.17ut pueros elementa docentem / occupet extremis in vicis balba senectus — Structurally, the subject of the ut-clause is balba senectus ("stammering old age"), the main verb is occupet, and the direct object is the pronoun te (implied), which is modified by the participle docentem ("teaching"). The hyperbaton separates docentem and senectus, creating a complex clause order meaning "that stuttering old age should overtake you as you teach boys their elements."
  4. 1.20.21maiores pinnas nido extendisse — The word nido is an ablative of comparison, meaning "wings larger than the nest." This is a metaphorical expression for rising above one's humble origin or achieving things beyond expectation, likened to a bird spreading wings too large for its nest. While some take it as an ablative of place ("from the nest"), the ablative of comparison is the standard and more poetic interpretation.

Cite this passage

Horace, Epistles §1.20.1-1.20.28. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0893.phi005.humanitext-lat2:1.20.1-1.20.28

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